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About Us

Helping Britain Blossom is all about helping local people create, restore and access orchards – to enjoy and use for good in their own communities.

Helping Britain Blossom is a unique partnership between HEINEKEN UK and The Orchard Project. Together we are working with hundreds of committed, inspiring and passionate people who want to make their communities better places to live and work.

We’re all about supporting communities to create community orchards. Why? Because of our shared belief that orchards are a powerful way to bring people together to create green spaces and build healthier, happier and more sustainable communities.

There’s something magical about apple and fruit trees. Our vision is to share the magic of orchards with communities across the country by helping local people create, restore and access orchards which they can enjoy and use for good. We want to help Britain blossom!

There are three key principles that run through everything that Helping Britain Blossom does:

We put local people first – we don’t own the community orchards – the local community does. Our role is to support them to achieve their goals and to help them to create the best orchards they can. We hope that through the project we will have created a legacy of orchards that continue to benefit local people for decades to come.

We put sustainability at the core – from the long term sustainability of the orchards, to building resilience in local communities, to the environmental benefits that the orchards bring, sustainability is at the core of everything we do.

We have a passion for quality – we won’t compromise on excellence. We want communities to get the best support we can provide to help them to create the most accessible, innovative and engaging orchards as well as inspiring projects. We provide more than just financial support and we only work with individuals that share our passion, pride or vision.

What are the benefits of Helping Britain Blossom?

Helps to build community resilience and community cohesion

Reduces social isolation by giving people a reason to come together

Encourages volunteering

Promotes awareness of sustainable development and providing outdoor classrooms

Opportunities for learning new skills including horticulture and community engagement

Improves health and wellbeing for local residents through outdoor activity and promoting healthy eating

Contributes towards tackling climate change

Enhances the local environment and biodiversity

Acts as a catalyst for further improvements to green space

Where we are working

Helping Britain Blossom have dedicated Project Managers based in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Greater Manchester, Leeds and London who work closely with the communities, organisations, and local councils in their regions to find the best locations and people to ensure community orchards thrive.

Our partners

Helping Britain Blossom started its journey in 2014, however the roots of the project go much deeper in the journeys of the founding partners.

About The Orchard Project

The Orchard Project is a national charity that inspires and trains communities to create, restore and maintain community orchards for the benefit of people, communities and the environment. It’s Project Managers and consultants work with communities in hubs across England and Scotland. Established in 2009 it has grown from the London Orchard Project to become the country’s national community orchard charity. It has created and restored over 250 community orchards and runs training with adults, in schools, and at orchard heritage events and orchard enterprises.

About Heineken

HEINEKEN recognises a responsibility to enable the communities in which it lives, works and operates to be more sustainable. Orchards are at the heart of its business. Around 30% of all the apples grown in the UK go in to making its ciders and it sources around 1.6 billion apples every year from around 10,000 acres of orchards – most of which are in Herefordshire. Helping Britain Blossom shares the magic of orchards with communities across the country and creates a positive lasting legacy for the future.

Meet Our Team

We have a fantastic team of people working on the Helping Britain Blossom project all over the country. Click here to learn more about them and get in contact with someone in your area

We’ve Moved!

The Helping Britain Blossom website is now being archived, and we are transferring resources over to our main website over the coming months. We will continue to post news, events and orchard managements tips there.